Lady Gaga Morphs Into Classic Paintings Via Video - A Comparative Look.

A video installation by artist Robert Wilson inserts Pop music phenom Lady Gaga into such classic pieces of art as Andrew Solari’s The Head of John the Baptist on a Charger (1507), Jacques-Louis David’s The Death of Marat (1793) and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres' famous portrait of Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière (1793-1807).


above: a view of the installation at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière
Lady Gaga as the Portrait of Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1793-1807):

The original painting:

Side by side:


The Death of Marat
Lady Gaga as the murdered Marat in Jacques-Louis David’s The Death of Marat (1793):

The original painting:

A still of the video:

Side by side:


The Head of John the Baptist
Lady Gaga as Andrew Solari’s The Head of John the Baptist on a Charger (1507):

Video stills showing the morphing of Gaga into the original painting:


The original painting:

Side by side:


The artist at work on the video portraits of Lady Gaga:


The video portraits are one part of a two part exhibit from artist Robert Wilson presently showing at The Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac. In the second part, he and Lady Gaga are seen in action during the shooting of the video "Flying" (a sort of "making of") , in which the musician can be seen hanging upside down naked while a rope cuts into her skin, bending her left leg, pinning her arms behind her back and deforming her breasts.

Flying:



The artist and Lady Gaga on the set of Flying:


The press release:
The Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac is pleased to present an exhibition of video portraits that Robert Wilson made in London in November 2013: Video Portraits of Lady Gaga.

American artist and stage director Wilson has based this series of slowly shifting video portraits on old masters like Ingres and Solario. Lady Gaga's face and body metamorphose into the features of Mademoiselle Rivière, for example, in a video inspired by the famous portrait of Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1793-1807). Wilson also gives us a variation in eleven steps based on Andrea Solario's Head of John the Baptist on a charger (1507) in which the 16th century model and the transformed face of the pop star merge in and out of each other.

The second room is devoted to the making-of of the two artists' joint production. Robert Wilson and Lady Gaga are seen in action during the shooting of the video Flying. Robert Wilson dictates every movement, every item of scenery and every shade of lighting. His artistry as a stage director finds its highest fulfilment in Lady Gaga’s sheer power and determination. "She is capable of changing character at an alarming speed", says Wilson.

Video Portraits of Lady Gaga is Robert Wilson's fourth exhibition at the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac. In 1993 the gallery presented drawings from his adaptation of Mozart's Magic Flute at the Opéra Bastille, and in 1996 the designs for the opera Erwartung at the Théâtre du Châtelet. In 2006 there was an exhibition at the gallery of his series of portraits, Faces of Mozart, in graphite, coloured inks and watercolour.

Check out Wallpaper Magazine's article on the exhibit here

About the artist:
Robert Wilson was born in Waco, Texas. He studied at the University of Texas and at the Pratt Institute, New York City. In the 1960s he was recognized as one of the leading lights of avant-garde theatre in Manhattan. With the performance company, the Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds, he created Deafman Glance (1970) and in 1976 his opera Einstein on the Beach with music by Philip Glass brought him worldwide renown and changed conventional perceptions of opera.

Since then, Robert Wilson has staged both original works and works from the traditional repertoire, notably: The CIVIL warS (1983-1985), Salome at la Scala, Milan (1987), Black Rider at the Théâtre du Châtelet (1990), Orlando with Isabelle Huppert at the Théâtre de l’Odéon (1993), Wagner's Ring at the Zurich Opera (2002), Lulu by Frank Wedekind with music by Lou Reed at the Théâtre de la Ville (2011), The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic in Manchester (2011) and at the Teatro Real, Madrid (2012). In November 2013, he presented The Old Woman by Daniils Kharms, with Willem Dafoe and Mikhaïl Barynchnikov at the Théâtre de la Ville and in December, at the same venue, Peter Pan with the Berliner Ensemble and music by CocoRosie. He will be staging another production of Einstein on the Beach in January 2014 at the Théâtre du Châtelet. Robert Wilson is currently featured in the Festival d’Automne à Paris, 2013 and he is guest artist at the Louvre.

images courtesy of the artist and the gallery -  their official sites, facebook pages and twitter feeds

A 9 Foot Tall Tower of 50,000 Wishbones and 20 Other Examples of Wishbone Art For Thanksgiving.

Last year I treated my readers to a selection of Wishbone inspired art on Turkey Day. This year I have a new round-up of contemporary art, furniture and other Wishbone items I'd like to share with you in honor of Thanksgiving.

"Cathedral de St. Icarus, the Wishful" by artist Berenice Rarig



While collecting wishbones artist Berenice Rarig realized that there is a relationship between the seemingly individual rituals of wishing and the more traditionally religious rituals of prayer.




This inspired Berenice to create some various pieces of 'wishbone' art. Most impressive is her Cathedral de St. Icarus the Wishful, made with over 50,000 wishbones, wire frame, lights and stands approximately 9 feet high:




(Collection of the artist - touring installation).

Offspring of Icarus by Berenice Rarig (broken wishbones and beeswax):

See more from her 'Offspring of Icarus' here

Both The Cathedral de St. Icarus and Offspring of Icarus are parts of Rarig's Soul Cages collection.

Truong Tran's Wishbone Art
Three Wishes, 2008, enamel on wishbones:



Tran's Wishbone Installation:




Truong Tran: Before the Wish, A short (6 and a half minute) documentary about the process of visual artist Truong Tran collecting one thousand wishbones by hand for his installation, Wish (2012), first displayed at SOMArts Gallery in San Francisco:

Credits: Directed/Shot/Edited by Daniel Lichtenberg, Post at Photon Creative


Lorna Simpson: III (Three Wishbones in a Wood Box)



Lorna Simpson is best known for her photography, which often combines images of black women with text as a way to explore society's relationship with race, sex, and ethnicity. Frequently elusive, her works involve the viewer in the creation of their meaning while also confronting the viewer with the underlying racism still found in American culture. Over time, Simpson's work has grown to include sculpture as a way to enrich her explorations of the relationship between words and image. With this piece, Simpson continued with that focus, and centered on the wishbone, a key of her artistic imagery. Drawing on the metaphorical meanings of the project's materials, Simpson used III as both an examination of and meditation on wishing. The set includes a wooden box filled with three contrasting wishbones, or "wishes," made from bronze, ceramic, and rubber. The bronze and rubber wishbones are unbreakably rigid. The ceramic wishbone was designed to be fragile, which was the artist's intention.


Available for purchase here at MoMA
or here at Artware Editions

"Point", "Weave" and "Float", 3 pieces from artist Dana Weir's Wishbone series. Encaustic collage with map and real bone, 2010, 6" x 6" each:




Yoga Saraswati's Little Wishes, wish bones, red thread, pastel on black paper, 19 x 27 cm:


Nina C Marrero, Handmade studies in pencil, charcoal, and ink, with a final graphic translation of a wishbone:


Ethan Patrick Harris, The Endless Throb:


Barbie KJAR, Wishbone 2005, drypoint etching, 180 x 180cm:


Joey Monsoon's Wishbone Mechanic:


Mark Beam's WISH BONE, painted mixed media sculpture, signed and dated on verso, 30” tall:


Alie Ward, Wishbone print:


Wishbones For The Home (furniture, decor and housewares):

StackLab's Wood tables with their signature 'Wishbone' legs

StackLab's Wishbone Walnut table (private commission). Solid, machined bronze stitches replace traditional bowtie joints to stabilize the natural crack in the wood. The legs are Stacklab’s signature cast bronze Wishbone design in a polished finish:



The Rubaiyat Table is a 10’ x 36” x 3” historic redwood burl paired with Stacklab’s sand-cast aluminum ‘Wishbone’ legs:


The Troost Desk is a 10’ x 38” x 3” historic redwood burl paired with Stacklab’s sand-cast aluminum ‘Wishbone’ legs.

Modern Toronto has an interesting article and interview with Jeff Forrest of StackLab about their wishbone tables here

Brass Wishbone by jewelry designer Herbert Hoover in fun packaging.


Decorative Grand Wishbones by Lunares


Lucky Break Wishbone Wall Hooks and Jewelry Holder by IMM Living



Other wishbone item links:
•Wishbone art to buy via Fine Art America
•There are almost 5,000 Wishbone items (jewelry,housewares and art) available here on etsy
 •Don't forget to see last year's 18 pieces of art inspired by the wishbone here.

Happy Thanksgiving!